How Pop culture is renewing the Person of colour discourse

Bridgerton is just the beginning

Dearest Gentle Readers,

I am no Whistledown from the Regency Era, but I wish to carry the legacy to speak, challenge, and question the unjustness around us.

Bridgerton as a TV show is now among the Top 10 of the most watched shows on Netflix. That means that a significant number of Netflix users have watched it. Users from different parts of the world would take examples from it.

I am from a country of brown-skinned people from Asia. I am from India. A country where people continuously strive to alter their skin colour for better prospects of marriage. A country where fair skin is thought to be equivalent to beauty. This might be the case in most other countries as well. But it is far from the objective truth. It is the most prejudiced, and widely accepted beauty standard.

So, How did Bridgerton leave a lasting and constructive impression on this predicament? Let me elaborate to my readers.

There have been movies and other sources of entertainment that have encouraged the casting of people of colour, but most of them have been done with such astute taste that it seemed like an obligation rather than a natural course of events.

That is where Bridgerton stands out in its portrayal. First of many things to note, it presents a chance to look at history in a new light by setting this in the Regency period. Thereby starting this where it all began.

It also never took the characters lightly or cast them in characters which are not prominent. Queen Charlotte is at the centre of the drama, and the spin-off show has many other nuanced social aspects to cover too.

Let’s come back to Bridgerton and Kate Sharma. To all the viewers who have watched this show, they must be utterly aware of how stunningly and breathtakingly beautiful Simone Ashley (The brown actor who played Kate Sharma’s Character) is. Adding to how Jonathon Bailey (The actor who played Anthony Bridgerton, the viscount’s Character) adores her with all his heart.

Why is this so important? Because it stands for representation, and more than representation it stands for possibility. There has been very little representation that was portrayed from the time the entertainment industry began, and we can all agree that it has been more than just a source of amusement. It has been a source of inspiration and expressiveness.

It shows that the dark-skinned girl could also be loved, could also be the main lead, and more than rightfully so. It would stand against the disparity in society, the false notions that somebody would deserve less than others because of the colour of their skin. The responsibility taken by shows as such can not be measured in any uncomplicated magnitude.

Another recent TV show that stood its ground by casting a brown-skinned protagonist is Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, and for anybody who has watched it. Especially for girls and grown-up women, it is a vindication against all the negative counsel preached by their very kin.

I can not wait for more quality and well-thought-out content to reach our screens and our minds which would question the basis of our existence and fairness.

Bridgerton is just the beginning.

Yours Sincerely,

Present-day Lady Whistledown.